A Whisper & A Clamor
by Ellie13x
Summary: All she wanted was to find her father. He was all she had left. She never knew she would gain the world on the way. Rated for mature scenes, language, and violence. Charon/FLW
1. 01: Adelaide

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Fallout and the characters belongs to the respective owners.

**Chapter 01**

**Adelaide**

Life out in the wastes was hard. I had figured that out within an hour of stepping into the blinding sun and searing heat. Nothing could have prepared me for the transition from Vault 101 to the Capital Wasteland.

Oh, yes. Let me introduce myself. I'm Kadence Gearhart, recent Vault escapee and amateur wasteland wanderer. My father, James Gearhart, was the doctor for Vault 101, where I grew up. However, when I was 19, my father up and left without an explanation of any sort, and because of that I had to fight my way out as well, lest I end up rotting after the Overseer had me killed.

To my surprise, I had actually wandered to this monstrosity of a town, Megaton. I mean, really, who builds a community around a bomb? But, whatever makes them happy, I guess.

I'm sitting in a dirty bar, Moriarty's. I've been in town for about a week, getting stocked up on supplies and just trying to find information about my Dad. I'm still not sure how I feel towards him at this moment. I'm angry with him leaving me in the Vault. I'm angry that he didn't clue me in. I'm angry that, because he left, the stupid guards came after me and I ended up having to kill my best friend's father to get away.

I'm also worried, though. He must have had a good reason to leave everything we've had. Colin Moriarty, an Irish bastard of an entrepreneur, told me we are not originally from the Vault. I'm worried that everything I know is a lie.

I sigh and almost hit my head off the filthy bar. The barkeep, a sweet Ghoul by the name of Gob, stopped wiping the glasses and made his way to me. "Something wrong, kid?"

I look up with a watery smile. "Nah, Gob. Just, still kind of overwhelmed, that's all. I'm really dreading having to go back out there, but I'm also dreading what will happen to my Dad if I don't."

He sighed and after giving a quick look for Moriarty, ruffled my hair. "I don't know much about traveling, kid. Hell, the last time I was out of this rat hole was when Moriarty bought me off the slavers. Not that this is much better. But, when you do head out, if you run into Underworld, tell Carol I said hello."

A noise sounded from the back and Gob jumped nervously, rushing to get back to wiping the dirty glasses. Frowning I stood and up and gave a quick wave to my only friend and walked out the door.

Out of the bar, I leaned on the rusty railing, looking out over Megaton. I was ready to go, and the sun was still high in the sky, but I still couldn't bring myself to walk towards the gate. I had wasted as much time as I could, fixing the leaking water pipes around town and then severely irradiating myself for Moira's stupid book. Well, at least radiation healed me now. Though, I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

I knew my Dad needed me. I just had that god awful feeling in my gut that something had happened. Moriarty said Dad was heading towards Galaxy News Radio, so I should be headed in that direction.

I didn't even realize that while I was thinking, I had walked towards and was standing in front of the gate, just staring at it. "Hey, kid!" I turn around to see the town sheriff, Lucas Simms, striding towards me. "Heading out?"

I nod and take another deep breath. "I don't want to, I mean, not really. I want to see my dad and all, but I don't want to go back out there alone."

The sheriff gave my a sympathetic smile. "Kid, life is full of things we don't want to do. You have to take control of the situation. If you think your old man needs you, then you need to go. But you can't do it half-assed. If you do, something out there will tear you apart and eat you for breakfast."

I gave him a wry look. "I know." I gave him a slight smile before pushing open the gates. Here goes nothing.

* * *

"This fucking sucks!" I shot another feral ghoul between the eyes, gagging when the poor thing's head exploded and covered me in gore. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick."

No one had explained to me that to get to DC and Galaxy Radio, you had to go through miles and miles of metro tunnels. And in those metro tunnels were feral ghouls. Lots of them.

The raiders didn't bother me. They were less than human, high on Jet and Psycho, and fuck knows what else. But, feral ghouls, they were people once. People that were stuck in radiation, people that had lost their humanity when the rads rotted through the brain. That made me sad.

I was almost there. According to my wonderful Pip-Boy, I was almost at Friendship Station, and from there I was hoping to make it above ground. These tunnels gave me the creeps. I jumped at every sound, and most of the time it was a stupid Radroach. Fuckers.

Finally, I see the station up ahead, but groan when I here the tell-tale yelling and arguing of raiders. I took a determined step but stilled when I felt a cold piece of metal on the back of my neck. A stench washed over me and I tried not to vomit. "Well, well. What do we have here? A little girl is in our midst boys!" He pushed me forward until we reached the station and threw me on the ground. "And she's a pretty piece of ass, too!"

How had I not heard him? Hell, how did I not smell him? Shit. I look up and took a quick glance. My captor had a sort of tri-hawk and was covered in filth and blood. He was wearing Blastmaster armor minus the helmet. He grinned down at me and I noticed that a few of his teeth were missing. Figures.

There was a woman whose head was shaved except for two stupid looking pigtails on her her head and dark skin. She would have a pretty face if it wasn't covered in blood and she basically was advertising herself in the armor she wore, which left little to the imagination. She grabbed my hair and... what the fuck? She sniffed me. "She's fresh, Tomlin! What a pretty little face, no scars! We could get a pretty cap for her."

"I vote we try her out, first." The owner to the new voice was built. Very built. His dirty blonde hair was cut close to the scalp and he had a scruffy beard. He had black markings going down his arm and deep set eyes. "She's got a hot body. And look at that hair! You don't often see gingers out here in the wastes." He reached down and his hands ghosted over my chest before straightening again and grinning.

The woman leaned over and started playing with the straps on my leather armor. Now I'm even more glad I traded my vault suit for the leather, even if it was less comfortable to the jumpsuit. Who knows what they would do to me if they knew I was new to the wastes.

The one called Tomlin stood back and started pacing. " We could use her for a couple days. It would take a day or two at least to get to Paradise Falls." He leaned down and got right in my face. I closed my eyes and turned away from him and he chuckled. "Come one, baby, don't close those pretty green eyes." He grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. In a moment of bravery, I spit in his face.

His eyes darkened in rage and he punched me, knocking me on the ground. "Stupid cunt! You'll be regretting that!" He got ready to kick me, but the woman stopped him.

"No! If you break her, we'll get less caps! Less caps equals less chems, fucktard!"

"Fuck off, Violet!" He pushed her away and stooped down to meet my face again. "I'm going to fuck you so hard I'm going to snap you in half!" Right then, I saw my escape. A knife was strapped to his ribcage, and in reaching distance.

I slowly reached up to him, as if to embrace him, and he got a perverted grin on his face. That was, until I grabbed the night and slit his sternum open.

He gasped and I jumped into action, grabbing the bitch and using her as a human shield with the knife to her throat. The other male took his Chinese assault rifle and started shooting, apparently not caring if he shot his companions, as he got her three times before she slumped to the ground.

I dove behind the makeshift wall of sandbags and found old pistol laying there. It was rusty from not being repaired, but it would have to make due. "Come one, sweetheart. Come out of there and let old Andy play with you. I promise to play nice!" The only raider left was apparently still thinking with his dick, but I knew I couldn't use that to my advantage. Not twice.

I made sure the safety off on the pistol, then charged, firing. Two of my bullets caught him in the chest, and he shot as he fell to the floor, catching me in the hip. I cried out but kept limping, shooting him in the throat as he finally died.

I fell to the floor next to his body and weeped. This fucking sucked.

* * *

A/N: This the first chapter. I know, it's kind of all over the place and short, but this is my first attempt at a Fallout fanfiction. Or a fanfiction at all, really. I've been working on my own novel-thing for so long, it's hard to get back in the habit of writing anything else. You'll learn more about Kadence in time, and for those of you who will catch it, I was heavily influenced by my obsession with Anberlin with her. Hence the name "Cadence" and the title, "A Whisper & A Clamor".

Well, I hope you like it! Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	2. 02: Hello

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Fallout and the characters belong to the respective owners.

**Chapter 02**

**Hello**

"What the FUCK do you mean, a favor? I was almost raped by Raiders, eaten by Ghouls, crushed by that goddamn Behemoth of a Super Mutant, and now you want me to do you a favor? What happened to fighting the goddamn good fight?" I was seeing red at this point. I had finally made it to GNR with the help of the Brotherhood of Steel, and now I was staring down Three Dog himself, one step closer to finding my renegade father. And, now what does he do? Refuses to tell me what my father is doing. Fighting the good fight, my ass.

"Calm down, kid. You'll find your dad soon enough. But, you see, how we work here at GNR, you help me, and I help you." Three Dog had this amused grin on his face, it made me want to smack it off of him. "You really are just like your dear old dad. In looks and in attitude."

I groaned and fell into the worn out chair, wincing when it hit my injured hip. "Why can't anything be easy? Why couldn't I just take a fucking train to get here, walk up, and see my dad sitting here drinking a Nuka-Cola?"

Three Dog chuckled. "Things may work like that in that hole in the ground you grew up in, but not out here, girlie."

"What, killing that huge fucker wasn't good enough for you?"

"I don't like asking you to do this, but I can't leave, and the Brotherhood have no extra men to spare. Besides, if you are as much like your dad as I think you are, this should be a piece of cake."

I sighed in defeat and nodded my head. "Alright, alright. No need to suck up. You know I'm going to do it anyways. I must have an air of desperation around me."

He grinned even wider. "No, but you are a problem solver, and that's what I like to see. It took major guts to leave the Vault and go after your dad, especially since you're just a kid. You will be helping fight the good fight, if that is any consolation."

I glared at him. "It isn't. Now, what mind-blowing dumb and dangerous mission are you going to send me on? I need to know how many Stimpacks to bring."

"That's what I like to hear!"

* * *

Getting to the Mall had been easy enough. A short time in the creepy ass tunnels, a few mutants here and there, piece of cake. Hell, even getting the Satellite out of the Museum had been relatively easy. But, getting from the museum to the Washington Memorial was a little harder.

Super Mutants were everywhere. They never seemed to stop appearing. I had only made it a short distance when a group of about seven had forced me to retreat, running as fast as I could through the bursts of gunfire from a mini gun, I quickly ran into another building. I didn't even bother to look at the sign, the farther the distance I could put between myself and those bullets, the better.

I didn't stop until I was in the building, with my back resting against the door. Lucky for me, they didn't come in. Maybe they couldn't open doors? They were smart enough to tell me they were going to tear me limb from limb, but I was thanking my lucky stars they apparently didn't know how to open a door.

I finally took a deep breath and looked around, noting I was in another museum. There was a huge Wooly Mammoth in the middle of the room, and a entrance to what looked like Hell on the opposite wall. Fuck, from one extreme to another.

As I was contemplating my options, a ghoul with red hair and leather armor walked out of the doors, stopping to look at me. "Well, we have a tourist. How're you doing, smoothskin?"

"Um... hi? Where am I?" I was hesitant. Sure, Gob was nice, and she certainly wasn't a feral, but I didn't want to get on the bad end of that laser rifle she had strapped to her back.

She gave me an odd look. "You're in Underworld, the city of Ghouls."

My heart leaped into my throat. Underworld was the place that Gob told me about, where his mother Carol lived. Somewhere safe! "Oh, okay, thank you! Can you tell me where Carol is?"

Now her look turned suspicious. "How do you know Carol, tourist?" I could see she was itching to grab her rifle.

"I know her son, Gob. He told me about this place."

"Alright, she's up the stairs on the right. She owns the Inn here. Be careful, Smoothskin. Don't want to have to blast your pretty face all over the walls."

She turned around and walked out into the mall without another word. I set my face into a determined smile and walked through the lobby and into Underworld.

You definitely couldn't tell it was once a museum. Not much of it was left. Many ghouls were milling about, some of them gave me suspicious looks, some of them ignored that fact that I existed. I wasn't really into visiting, though. I scurried up into the Inn.

There was a ghoul sitting at the front desk. She looked worse off than Gob or even the ghoul I met in the lobby. She was frail with little skin left and tufts of hair. She leaned on the counter, a smile lighting up her odd features. "Well, look at you! It's not often we get visitors here, not to mention a pretty Smoothskin like yourself. Welcome to Carol's Place, I'm Carol."

I knew my features lit up. "Carol? You're a sight for sore eyes, if you don't mind me saying. I'm Kadence, I know your son."

Her look must have matched mine. "Gob? You know Gob? Oh, how is he?"

I debated on telling her about Gob's predicament, but decided not to. I was going to help him out of that anyways, as soon as I got back to Megaton. "He's very good. He's in Megaton, working at a bar. But, I have a feeling he's going to end up owning it soon."

Her smile could have lit up the entirety of the wasteland. "That's good! I've been worrying about him, he's such a sweetie. Trusting, too. He's very lucky, knowing such a nice girl like you."

I felt my face heat and I smiled bashfully. "Thank you, Carol! Hey, do you have an empty room? I desperately need to recoup after my run-in with a bunch of Super Mutants outside."

She apparently just noticed my haggard appearance because she started fussing like a mother hen. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry, I just got so excited! Of course, we have a room. Let me tell you something, if you give me 300 caps for a deposit, anytime you're here you can use that room. A friend of Gob's is a friend of mine. How about a bit of dinner, too?"

"Really? Thank you so much! After I explore a bit, I'll come back, and I would love to hear your story." I wasn't bullshitting, either. Carol struck me as a motherly type. And a girl with no mom and a missing dad could use some affection every now and then.

"Of course! Be careful, smoothskin. Ahzrukhal is a dangerous man, and the Ninth Circle is a dangerous place. Just be weary of him."

The Ninth Circle was not what I expected it to be after my chat with Carol. I half expected an Opium den or strip joint. But, it looked relatively normal.

Of course, other than this HUGE ghoul standing with his arms crossed in the corner. By ghoul standards, he was attractive. He was tall and built. He had a lot of skin left, by the look of things and he appeared to have auburn colored hair. Er, well, that was left of it, anyways. He had a shotgun strapped to his back, so for the sake of my own skin, I ended up seated at the bar. The more distance, the better.

I disliked Ahzrukhal immediately. Even if he was... normal, he would have creeped me the fuck out. He looked at me like he was seeing right through me, and it made me nervous. "Hello, smoothskin. Not often we get your type in here. Pick your poison."

I coughed a little. "I think I'll decline, thank you." I ran a hand through my hair and snuck a glance at the big ghoul in the corner. Yep, still there, only now he was staring straight at ME. What on Earth did I get myself into? "I was wondering about the big guy in the corner."

Ahzrukhal chuckled. "Oh, that's Charon. He's my bodyguard. Impressive, isn't he?"

I nod, and glance up at him. "What will it take for me to employ him?"

"Oh, you see, Charon and I have an understanding. As long as I have his contract, he can not leave my side or do anything I deem... inappropriate. He's also a very, very good listener."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "He's a slave."

The bartender gave me a humorless laugh. "Please, don't go throwing nasty words like that around in my bar. He is a mercenary, he just happens to be in my employ."

I didn't believe one word that spouted through his cracked lips. "How much?"

"For Charon? Oh, I don't know. He's been in my employ for so long... I don't think I could part from him for less than 2000 caps."

2000 caps? Fuck. Yes, I had about that amount, but seeing as I had get supplies, I was not about to spend it all. "Come on, Ahzrukhal. You should know a pretty little girl like me wouldn't have that much. I'll give you 1000 caps for him. You need some new muscle in the place anyways. Your customers are... starting to get complacent."

The sneaky bastard glared at me, like he was sizing me up. Finally, he reached down and pulled out a crumpled and stained piece of paper, setting it on the bar. "Here you go, 1000 caps. I'll give you the honor of telling him yourself." He took my hard earned caps and and walked away.

Still sitting at the bar, I take the paper and stand up, steeling myself for the inevitable, and walk towards Charon.

The cold look he gave me almost stopped me in my tracks, but I kept walking till I reached him, his contract crushed in my fist. "Hello, Cha-"

"Talk to Ahzrukhal." He glared at me.

What the fuck? Talk about obedient. "No thanks, been there, done that. I'm your new employer, Charon."

His eyes widened and a small smile graced his features. "That... is good news. If you would excuse me for a second, I have something I must take care of."

I sighed and sat down on a dusty chair. I watched as Charon made his way to his old employer and they exchanged few words. I had just started to relax when my new bodyguard pulled out his shotgun and blew Ahzrukhal away with two shells. He then preceeded to take the sack of caps, MY caps, and spit on the body. I had already jumped to my feet when the shots went off and stared at him in horror. "What the fuck was that?"

"Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard, Miss. The world is a better place without him." He took my arm and placed the now bloodstained bag in my hand.

I just gaped at him, before shaking myself. I was suddenly very aware we were the only ones left in the bar, besides the little bits of the owner covering the walls behind the bar. I quickly pocketed my caps before looking at him again. "Um, well, I'm Kadence. And I very much hope that if you are ever not in my employ, you don't shoot me. Please."

His lips quirked up into a little smile. "We'll see."

I sighed. "Great. Just great. Well, I have a room at Carol's, we'll be staying for a couple days if that is alright with you. I need to heal a bit more before becoming a moving target again." Charon just nodded, his eyes trained intently on my face. "You don't talk much do you?"

"Hm."

Fuck.

* * *

After a very eventful day, sitting at Carol's and listening to her story was relaxing, if a bit depressing. She had fixed me a dinner of Salisbury steak and Blanco Mac and Cheese and was sitting with me as I ate, telling me about everything. The war, the radiation, whatever she could remember. Charon, who had refused anything to eat, was standing against the wall as usual, this time making sure no one who he didn't approve of came within 50 feet of me. Poor Carol was losing business already, a ghoul came in, saw Charon, and actually fell over trying to get out of the door.

I had to admit, Charon was a very imposing figure. He was easily 6'7 or higher, and he had lots of muscle tone to him. Hell, even if he had been human, he would have been scary as hell. The ghoulification only added to it. He also held a air of mystery to him, like a puzzle waiting to be solved.

"Kadence? If I write a note to Gob, could you give it to him when you see him next?" She had this hopeful look on her face, even if I was a complete bitch, I couldn't turn her down. Not that I would even dream of it.

"Of course! When I'm in Megaton I always drop in to see him at least a couple times a day, anyways. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. When I first came into town, he was the first person I met. To tell you the truth, he's about my only friend, too."

Carol smiled and took my hand in hers. "That's my Gob, always such a nice boy. He was always shy around girls, but don't you tell him I told you that," She added as she saw the smile on my face. "But I can tell you are a nice girl. You don't seem to care at all how we look."

I shrugged. "Why should I? It's not your fault that this happened to you. Hell, I've seen Raiders that looked worse."

She smiled as she stood up and patted my hand. "I'm glad, ghouls don't get to have many friends out here. Tell me if you need anything else."

She moved away to the counter and I let myself relax a little in the chair. I heard Charon shift behind me, so I turned around. "Charon, will you sit down?"

"If that is what you wish."

"I want to talk about the contract."

I felt him brush against me and before I knew it, he was settled across from me, still watching me with those strange eyes. They were a blue from what I could tell, a very light blue. Due to his ghoulification, they had a milky film covering them. For a split second, I find myself disappointed. Those eyes really would have been beautiful.

He quirks a missing eyebrow at me and I clear my throat softly. Oh, real lady like, Kadence. "Okay, like I said, I'm Kadence. Gearhart. Kadence Gearhart. Sorry, I'm not usually this awkward."

He gave me the same face, except one corner of his lip quirked. "Go on."

"Anyways, I hired you because I need help. Obviously. I'm looking for my dad, you see, we're Vault dwellers. He left about two weeks ago, escaped. And because of that, I caught hell." I just noticed I was wringing my hands and I placed them flat on the table to stop it. Of course, that did not go unnoticed by my new companion, who looked like he had to stop himself from laughing. "I have to put a stupid relay satelite on the Washington Memorial for Three Dog so he will tell me where my father went. Then, who knows where I'll have to trek to finally catch him."

"If I may ask, what do you plan on doing when we do catch up to him, Miss?"

"I don't know. Lock him in a straight jacket? That seems to be a good idea at the current moment." I sighed and wiped my hands over my eyes. "This contract of yours, does it have limits or exceptions or something?"

"Yes. If you harm me, all bets are off. Violence makes the contract null and void. So, if you shoot me, I shoot you. Other than that, I have to follow you and do your bidding, for good or ill." He looked frustrated. Well, as frustrated as you could look without showing any emotion.

"If I give you the contract, will you be free?"

Oh, there it was. A flicker of surprise on his face. "I do not know, Miss. No one has ever tried."

"Okay, that's enough of that. Please. Call me Kadence or even Gearhart. None of that "Miss" crap. I feel bad enough as it is about this without hearing that all day." I stifled a big yawn, suddenly very tired.

"Alright, Kadence."

I smiled. "And if you want to talk, talk. If you think I'm being an idiot, call me out on it. I'm your employer, not your owner. I'm going to talk your ear off, so you might as well not hold back."

He looked amused. "Why do you not go to sleep? I will gather supplies and we can head out in the morning."

That was a brilliant idea. After making my way back to the room, I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

* * *

A/N: This one is a bit longer. Once we get further in, I imagine they will get longer. It's always hard for me to start a story, but once I get back into the groove of writing, it's easier.

I'm liking this so far, and I always have new inspiration for it. I've been playing New Vegas non-stop since it came out, but I think I'll switch back to 3 to keep it fresh.

As always, I hope you liked it! Constructive criticism is welcome.


	3. 03: Godspeed

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Fallout 3 and it's characters belong to it's respective owners.

**Chapter 03**

**Godspeed**

One thing I've noticed about Charon: he was extremely quiet, even on a good day. Most of the time, the only peep I even heard of him was when we got into a scuffle. He would scream and shout at our targets, but as soon as the battle was over, he would clam up all over again.

It was kind of annoying to tell you the truth. The only thing I would get out of him was "Hm" or nothing at all. Don't get me wrong, I completely appreciate his dead on accuracy and his cold demeanor towards our enemies, but I really would love a companion that spoke. It still feels lonely.

We were on our way from Jefferson Memorial to a vault out in the middle of nowhere. Dad had left hollotapes saying where he was headed. Something about a G.E.C.K., too, but I have no idea what the fuck that is.

We had been traveling for almost a day before I made my decision. "Charon, we're going to Megaton first. Might as well stock up on what we need. The Pip-Boy says we're close."

The massive ghoul merely nodded and I groaned. So much for that

* * *

Megaton was the same as it always was. Filthy, hot, and it stunk. I guess that was what happened when you got about a hundred or more unwashed people living together. Gross.

Not that I was the perfect picture of hygiene anymore. My hair was matted to my face with sweat and grime, and my armored vault suit was caked in dirt and blood. Not to mention I hadn't brushed my teeth in I can't remember how long. Life in the wastes was ugly and dirty. It wasn't exactly what I was used to.

I needed a bath, even if it had to be a radioactive one. But, I didn't want to spend money to rent the room at Moriarty's and I definitely didn't want to take a bath in the common house. I tried that once, only to have one of those bomb worshipers walk in on me.

I walked down to the bomb and sat down just outside of the sizzling puddle. It was lunacy, to build a settlement around a live warhead. It could go off at any second, and just eradicate the entire city. There were children here, and old people.

"Something, isn't it?"

I jumped at least a foot in the air. "Lucas Simms, you are a ninja!"

He laughed. "Hardly. You had your head so high in the clouds a Deathclaw could have snuck up behind you. What's on your mind?"

"This radioactive eyesore. Have you ever had anyone try to disarm it?"

He scoffed. "Right, because Megaton is home to rocket scientists." He shook his head. "No. Would it give me piece of mind? Absolutely. But there's no one near here that has that type of education. And, of course, the Children of Atom would not appreciate it."

"I do." I chimed in. "My dad was a scientist, a doctor. I'm good with medicine, too. But explosives were always my favorite."

Simms gave me a weary look. "Are you sure you can handle it? I do not want this place going sky high."

"If you doubt me, have a temporary evacuation. But I like this city too much to see some idiot get drunk and blow it up. Even if it does stink. I can do it."

He seemed to be considering me before he shrugged. "If you can do it, I'll make you a permanent resident. You can have the vacant house."

I knew I must been glowing. "Really? Like, no fees?"

"No fees. But, tell me, Kadence, before I let you get to work. What is with that ghoul that you left at Moriarty's? You're not a slave trader, are you? Slavers aren't welcome here."

I frowned. "Of course not. I came across him in the Ninth Circle. I freed him from a very bad situation and he's going to help me find my dad. After that, he'll be on his way."

"Alright. But if he causes any trouble, it will be on your head. I will kick you out of that house faster than you can blink. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." With that, Lucas Simms left, grumbling as he did so. I knew I had to get to work, the sun was high in the sky, and if I wanted to get this done by dark, I needed to start.

I got to work, using what tools I had and improvised some. It wasn't that difficult, really. I had spent a lot of time around the reactor in the vault and had read even more, so I wasn't completely in the dark. The wires were a little rusted and the majority of the time I spent was trying to get the panel open, which had been fused shut. I had cut myself several times, but all I could think about was a creeper-free bath and a semi-clean bed.

All in all, the attempt had taken me about an hour or so and of course, I was successful. I was a little dizzy and nauseated from standing in the water, but that was nothing a little Radaway wouldn't cure.

I tried not to stumble as I made my way to the Megaton gate, where I knew the sheriff would be located. I found him easily enough, and he eyed me. "I take it you did it."

"Of course." I tried to look smug, but the world was starting to spin and it was making it a little difficult. "It's was... easy..peesy."

"Kadence, kid, are you alright?"

"I... think I need to sit.." My world went black and I welcomed the abyss.

* * *

Fires were everywhere. The acrid smell of smoke and burning flesh met my nose and I gagged. The heat was surely blistering my flesh, but all I could think about was him. I had to get to him. No matter the cost.

My steps were slow and hesitant across a barren landscape. It was hell, I'm sure. The ground was black and ash fell from the sky like snow. I could see people running and falling, trampling their loved ones trying to escape. Nothing had a sound, but I could see the pain, the rage.

Men were clawing at the rubble uselessly before falling to the ground. A mother was clutching her burning child, screaming with no sound as the fire was consuming her.

How long had it been since the air horns sounded? ...Days? Weeks? And yet the fires still raged without a sign of slowing. People were still dying. I had to get out. I had to get to him.

I was limping, it felt as if something had taken a bite out of my calf. I didn't bother to look down, that would take more of the little time that I had. I tried to run, but the uneven ground of broken buildings and corpses was proving to be a hindrance.

My beautiful dress, the one I had worn to the dance before the sirens started, was torn and hanging off me in shreds. Blood destroyed the pretty pink pattern and it was almost black from grime and ash. The sirens had started so suddenly, the entire dance was evacuated to the small shelter below the hall, and the only family I had known was destroyed by the fire, I'm sure of it. All I had left was him.

I had found what was left of a scorched road and ran, trying to make up for lost time. My leg hurt like a bitch, but I couldn't let it slow me down. I was coughing as I tried to breathe and only got black smoke. I knew I was getting close, but I didn't want to slow down. I was far to afraid.

We shouldn't have left the shelter. Why did he leave? He left me behind. Left us behind. The shelter meant safety. Safety from fire, from radiation. From death. And as soon as he could, he pried open the doors and ran like a bat out of hell.

I loved him, I couldn't let him burn. Not without me trying to save him. We've been through so much, I couldn't stand to never see that beautiful bronze hair, or those sky blue eyes again. I couldn't live not knowing if he survived.

My beautiful dress, the one I had worn to the dance before the sirens started, was torn and hanging off me in shreds. Blood destroyed the pretty pink pattern and it was almost black from grime and ash.

As I ran, I saw a tall figure up ahead, and I knew immediately it was him. I tried to run faster and call his name, but nothing but gasps would leave my scorched throat. I tripped and fell, catching my bare leg on a burning tire. I screamed, and drug myself away, but the fire kept burning. My skin was peeling as the fires ripped up my leg to my back and yet I kept crawling, I was desperate to reach him.

My hearing came back all at once, the screams, the fire crackling, the sirens. It was all deafening. I could hear animals shrieking and explosions, along with my own desperate gasps and pants. I was going to die.

As the burning went toward my neck, I finally got close enough to see him. He was standing with his back toward me, his tall figure imposing on the burning background. His black clothes were shredded, and I could see the skin on his left arm was burnt. His head was down, but his shock of bronze hair swayed in the slight gusts.

I screamed and finally got a small shriek out as my vision dimmed. As he turned around, I knew I was dying. It was him, but it wasn't. His face was blistered and his eyes had a crazed look in them. The last thing I saw before fire consumed my vision was his blinding white smile.

_Charon_.

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long. Such is the life of a single mom of a toddler. The updates will be here and there, but I am going to do my best to continue. This one is short and I'm not sure if I like it. I've been working on it for quite a while now, so it needs to be updated, at least to give my few readers a break and for me to get it out of the way. As always, let me know if you like it.


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